paradisa | Journal the First

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Journal the First

[the lobby door creaks open a few inches, just enough for a man in a fedora to poke his head in carefully. his eyes widen, and he ducks back out and shuts the door. from without, there's a muffled yet still pretty pronounced shout:]

O, LORD.

[with that, the door opens again, all the way, this time, and he shuffles in, shutting it quickly behind him and clutching a worn leather messenger bag to his chest as though his very life depended on it. his pinstripe suit is slightly rumpled and spotted here and there with ash, and there's a thick scarf wound around his neck. he moves carefully away from the door, eyes wide as he takes in his surroundings]

... I certainly think I'd remember this being on the map.

[and with that, he sits down on one of the lobby couches and starts going through his bag - getting more and more distraught the longer he rummages. clearly, whatever he's looking for isn't there...]

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[Unbeknownst to her, Violet is walking through the lobby. Her hair is pulled back in a black ribbon. It is not hers, but it is one that will suffice, a phrase here which means 'will not let such a fickle thing like hair get in the way'. She's too busy with a box of metal parts, heading back to her shop.]

[as Lemony's rummaging, one of his pens falls out of the bag and rolls across the floor. setting the bag down, he gets up and dutifully goes after it ...] Oh, no, come back, please. I'd rather not lose you, too...

[and he stops, just short of the young inventor, picks up his wayward pen, straightens, and looks at Violet as though he's seen a ghost - which means he resembles one a bit more than she does, himself, having gone a bit pale in the face. really, there's only one thing he can manage to make himself say: and thankfully, it's the right question for once, even if it comes out in a whispered hush:]

... Are you who I think you are?

[The pen falls short of reaching her, and if she didn't have an arm full of materials, Violet would gladly bend to pick it up. However when the man reaches her, she stops short.]

You were the taxi driver. [It has been years since that moment, even though only weeks had passed her back back home.]

[that wasn't quite the answer he was expecting, but he can tell without a doubt: between the hair ribbon, the mechanical parts, and the fact that his heart hurts a little just to look at her, she is Violet Baudelaire and the spitting image of her dear mother. confusion is the only thing keeping him from copious weeping, at this point]

Taxi driver ...? Well ... I do have a license, somewhere in my bag ...

[She straightens some. Violet already knows about how people can come from different times, and it's best to test this out.]

You are a very fortunate driver then, sir.

[he lets out a tiny, breathless laugh - she knows the code! he'd had an inkling that they'd begun to learn some of the secrets, but to see her, here ... he forces himself to calm down. he'd been pursued before he came through those doors, after all, and if the others were hot on his heels ...! he'd never forgive himself if he put the Baudelaires in danger.]

Indeed, I am. [he takes another breath to steady himself, and looks around] ... The world is quiet, here.

I did not realize this was a sad occasion. [Her lip curls into a knowing smirk, held tilted.]

I'm Violet Baudelaire. [She extends a hand.]

... I know. [he takes her hand and shakes it, somewhat hesitantly. because - well - this is all very surreal, a phrase which here means "something he didn't actually ever think would happen"] My name is Lemony Snicket. ... Are your siblings safe?

[Her hand returns to her side.] Jacques and Kit's brother?

[That subject makes her frown.] They are not here, I am afraid. I have been in Paradisa for nearly a year and a half, though I did return home for a brief stint. Back into the clutches of the vile villain himself.

Yes. I ... [another slow, deep breath] I should thank you. For trying to help him. Even if it was too late.

[he grimaces, trying to fence in his grief a little. she has enough misfortune in her own life without having to see his. and besides, his curiosity is already getting the better of him and sweeping over it like a wave at a rising tide]

But .... what is Paradisa? I've certainly never heard of it. The only concrete Paradise I know is a pickle factory in Ayamenem, India.

Too late? [She's thinking of Kit right now, not knowing that soon she'll watch her and Olaf die.] For Jacques, but hopefully not for Kit. We did warn her and the others coming to the hotel. I'm sorry to inform you that the last safe place is safe no more.

[His curiosity does make her smile.] It's a castle, unknown to any here. We are somewhere else entirely. No villains, no volunteers. I was here for a year exactly before I went home for a few weeks. Only a week had passed here before I returned. The castle is magic. Yes, magic. You can wish for anything, but be very precise.

I also have more unfortunate news. This place has taken something from you. For some people it's memories, for me it was the ribbon I tied my hair with.

I wouldn't say there are no volunteers. [he gives her the ghost of a smile, hut it soon fades].... But the Hotel Denouement still stands! At least, I hope that it does. Once I finished my research in the mountains, I had an appointment with the Vicomte of Seattle there....

I regret to inform you that is burned down. [Something she's ashamed about, knowing how many people were trapped in there.] It was used as a signal to warn Kit.

[the last safe place, not only safe no more, but GONE. he feels his heart come loose and plummet down into his shoes, slipping past his stomach and making it lurch on the way down. decades of memories flash through his mind so fast that they almost superimpose themselves on one another, a piteous palimpsest: tea with the Denouement triplets in the lobby, mah jong with R in room 794, a ride in the elevator with M and J that led to a lively conversation about slide whistles, and of course, oh -! He can't even think of some of them, not while Violet is standing there looking so like her mother that it's already a wonder he isn't weeping]

..... Is she safe? [it is the only thing he can dare to ask]

[She feels bad telling him this. She could only wonder at what this place meant for all of the volunteers.]

I do not know. But I must admit my part in it. We three, my siblings and I, burnt it down. There was a trial, you see-- and more bad news, I must inform you. Dewey Denouement was killed by a whale harpoon that my siblings and I, as well as Count Olaf held. That was what the trial was for. But justice was not blind. Not when two of the judges were accomplices, and villains themselves.

[Her head drops and she touches his arm lightly.]

I truly am sorry it happened that way.

[this is even more of a bombshell - or succession of them - than arriving in this foreign place to find her here. all the air goes out of his lungs in a slow, deep rush, and he turns back to the couch]

I believe I need to lie down...

I felt I needed to tell you. [Although she wonders how much of her story she knows. Because while this is nearly the worst of it, there is more.]

[he does indeed lie down on the couch - face first. when he speaks again after a few moments' composure, his voice is muffled by the pillows]

No, I ... Thank you, Violet. You were right. No matter how horrible the news, it is best to be informed.

[he sits back up and frowns, worriedly] Did I hear you correctly when you said you left this place and returned without Klaus and Sunny.....?!

I left this place nearly six months ago after being here a year. I went back home for a few weeks and returned once again without Klaus and Sunny. I've been without them for as long as I've been here. [It's been pretty lonely.]

.... [he frowns, inescapably reminded of all the time he's spent on the lam, away from Kit and Jacques]

That must have been terribly hard for you - and must be, still.

It is. But there are many things to keep me busy. [She frowns and moves to sit on the couch beside him.]

[he glances at the parts she was carrying] So I see. One of your illustrious inventions?

I don't get to invent much here. Most technological advancements have been made, but I am learning new techniques, new technology to better myself.

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Journal the First

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